Thursday, April 12, 2012

Yelpers Look For ROI on Purchases

Consumers want the most bang for their buck. They are
becoming more empowered and reaching out to secondary sources to find
information on organizations before they conduct business with them. Popular
sites like Yelp are putting all consumer
feedback into one place for other consumers to investigate. Yelp can help bring
new customers to a small business but on the other side, drive potential
customers away.

People are leaving reviews about your company whether you
own your page or not but it is better to own it and be active with your page in
order to listen and interact with your consumers. It’s ridiculously easy to set up. Make sure to keep track of your reviews and respond. When
someone leaves a positive review, a simple “Thank You!” or ‘Can’t wait for you
to visit again!’ is a great, simple response.

Unfortunately there may be the occasional not-so-nice
comments. If the complaint is legitimate, apologize and try to remedy the
problem. After you solved the problem, invite them back to leave a review on
what you did. If it is not fixable, a refund or an offer for a future visit
always helps. If the negative feedback is not legitimate, do NOT offer them an
explanation or argue, simply apologize.
The non-legitimate posts are usually transparent to your audience. No matter how negative the review,
other people like to see that you took the time to respond in a professional
matter. It shows your potential customers that you value their opinions and are
willing to go the extra mile to better serve them.

If you have great reviews, promote, promote, promote! Use
them as testimonials on your website, blog or Facebook. It is also a good idea
to ask for reviews from your clients. You could have a sign in your storefront
with a Yelp testimonial and then a call for action to visit Yelp and share
their personal experience. Never be too pushy, as this will come off as
desperate and not genuine.

With Yelp being named one of the most popular apps for smart
phones, it is the consumers’ deepest source of information right before they
want to buy something for lunch, get a manicure, buy a new piece of furniture,
etc. So it is important that you have the correct address, hours and phone
numbers to ensure consumers who are looking for you can easily find you—even
more of a reason to own your Yelp business page.